Unpacking Lukas Gage's 'I Wrote This for Attention'

"Gage grew up in a home shadowed by addiction, emotional volatility, and a lack of stability. His father's absence and betrayal left him with a fragmented sense of self and a persistent fear of abandonment. His mother, a single parent trying to keep the family afloat, was exhausted and drained by worry over her older son's addiction. She was loving but had little bandwidth left for her other children, leaving Lukas caught between understanding her struggle and aching for her attention."

"When the source of love also becomes the source of pain, the body learns to brace for being let down and remains in a state of alert. These early experiences taught Lukas to become more attuned to other people than to his own sense of self-worth, a habit that would later shape his people-pleasing tendencies, trying to stay likable as a way to maintain a sense of self-worth."

Lukas Gage experienced a childhood defined by addiction, emotional volatility, and instability that fractured his sense of self and created a persistent fear of abandonment. Limited parental availability amid an older sibling's addiction left Lukas competing for attention and internalizing responsibility. School bullying intensified isolation and reinforced distrust of love and safety. Early attachment wounds trained Lukas to prioritize attunement to others over internal worth, producing people-pleasing and attention-seeking behaviors. Lying emerged as a survival strategy. Healing is framed as emerging through genuine connection, self-acceptance, and being truly understood.

Read at Psychology Today